What do you think?
Rate this book
Constant Tides
In the early hours of Monday 28th December 1908, a girl steals through the garden of Villa Mazzini. Lilla is on her way to meet Enzo and together they intend to leave on a steamship for a new life in America. First though, they must evade his father's spies, for Don Carmelo believes the daughter of a fisherman unworthy of his son's affections; and second, they must survive the greatest earthquake in the city's long history. In July 1943, Mira receives a visit from Lieutenant Aldo de la Grascia at her family home in the village of Ganzirri. Mira is fond of the officer and without his continuous gift of provisions, her cafe would have closed long ago. However, the war has already made her a widow and Mira isn't sure if she is ready to love again. Then, late one night, an Italian sailor knocks on her door and asks her to help his companion, a wounded British naval officer. And in the summer of 2018 on the beach at Capo Peloro, Angelica is intrigued by an Englishwoman who speaks Sicilian in the Messinese dialect and who seems more than a little melancholy. In the afternoon, the woman goes for a swim and is caught in the strong tides that run through the Strait. Angelica wonders whether the woman has put herself in danger intentionally and knows there is little that can be done to prevent her from drowning; that is until a feluca appears. A three-part novel based on historical events, Constant Tides follows the loves of three courageous women through the spring, summer and autumn of their lives in the Strait of Messina, Sicily.
Unknown Binding
First published March 4, 2020
1 person is currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Peter Crawley
6 books2 followersPeter Crawley was born in Chiswick in 1956. He was educated at Cranleigh School in England and at the Goethe Institut Freiburg-im-Breisgau in Germany. He spent much of his youth in Germany, Austria, France and Corsica. Mazzeri, his first novel, was published by Matador in 2013 and Boarding House Reach the following year. He has since published four more novels: Ontreto, the follow-up to Mazzeri, The Truth In Fiction, a collection of short stories, The Wind Between Two Worlds, set in contemporary London and more recently Constant Tides, a story of Messina, Sicily. Peter Crawley is a former transatlantic yachtsman and historic motor racing driver. His interests include his family, his research, writing and skiing. He lives in Chertsey, Surrey, with his wife, Carol. They have three daughters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 1, 2020
Peter Crawley's latest and his best. Spanning more than a century an enthralling story of Sicily spanning the 1908 earthquake, the descriptions of death and destruction are not for the squeamish, the American invasion in WWII and finally the unravelling of a family mystery in the present day. Culture and geography are minutely observed in a smoothly flowing style that avoids clunky exposition.
Read
October 25, 2025Want to learn more about Constant Tides? Click here for an interview with the author: https://historicalfictionreader.blogs...
October 11, 2020
( Format : Audiobook )
"A sea of conflicting emotions."
1908, Messina, and Leela, a fifteen years old daughter of a fisherman's family awaits her love, Enzo, the 18 years old son of a wealthy, upstanding member of the community totally opposed to the young couple's relationship. They are meeting to run away together, taking passage by ship to America. It doesn't happen. Constant Tides is a book of three lifetimes set over a century, 1908, 1943, and 2019, in the Sicilian beauty of Messina and each explores lives and loves and family, in beauty and desperation. The stories are visually descriptive, the writing very simple and easy to read even if some of the accounts are hard to absorb. This reader found the events of the first book completely absorbing, a thriller as much as a love story, set, as it was, at the time of a massive earthquake which devastated the area and killed so many. After so dramatic a beginning it was difficult for the following books to retain such attention and, although good, neither fully took hold of this reader's imagination and empathy in the same way although the mind pictures painted by the scenes of hunting for swordfish were mesmerizing with a tinge of the horrific.
Narration was by Scott Alexander Going who read with no attempt at a dramatic performance. His English accented voice is warm and pleasant with a fine timbre and , where required, an authentic sounding Italian accent. However, especially early in the stories, his delivery was not smooth but halting and slightly slower than this reader felt appropriate, although speeding the playback to 1.25 seemed a step too far. Overall, however, this was a minor blip on the enjoyment of the book.
My thanks to the rights holder of Constant Tides, who, at my request freely gifted me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. The intricacies of relationship were fascinating, the stories of individuals fascinating and not always as predictable as they could easily havebecome, and the Sicilian setting was exhilaration. And, like the people around us, the individuals in the stories and about whom we learn so much, still somehow manage to hide their full character, always being observed from afar rather than becoming intimates of the reader. A long book at almost 19 hours, slow moving but absorbing with far more than just an intergenerational family love story. Recommended, if only for the descriptions in book one alone.
"A sea of conflicting emotions."
1908, Messina, and Leela, a fifteen years old daughter of a fisherman's family awaits her love, Enzo, the 18 years old son of a wealthy, upstanding member of the community totally opposed to the young couple's relationship. They are meeting to run away together, taking passage by ship to America. It doesn't happen. Constant Tides is a book of three lifetimes set over a century, 1908, 1943, and 2019, in the Sicilian beauty of Messina and each explores lives and loves and family, in beauty and desperation. The stories are visually descriptive, the writing very simple and easy to read even if some of the accounts are hard to absorb. This reader found the events of the first book completely absorbing, a thriller as much as a love story, set, as it was, at the time of a massive earthquake which devastated the area and killed so many. After so dramatic a beginning it was difficult for the following books to retain such attention and, although good, neither fully took hold of this reader's imagination and empathy in the same way although the mind pictures painted by the scenes of hunting for swordfish were mesmerizing with a tinge of the horrific.
Narration was by Scott Alexander Going who read with no attempt at a dramatic performance. His English accented voice is warm and pleasant with a fine timbre and , where required, an authentic sounding Italian accent. However, especially early in the stories, his delivery was not smooth but halting and slightly slower than this reader felt appropriate, although speeding the playback to 1.25 seemed a step too far. Overall, however, this was a minor blip on the enjoyment of the book.
My thanks to the rights holder of Constant Tides, who, at my request freely gifted me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. The intricacies of relationship were fascinating, the stories of individuals fascinating and not always as predictable as they could easily havebecome, and the Sicilian setting was exhilaration. And, like the people around us, the individuals in the stories and about whom we learn so much, still somehow manage to hide their full character, always being observed from afar rather than becoming intimates of the reader. A long book at almost 19 hours, slow moving but absorbing with far more than just an intergenerational family love story. Recommended, if only for the descriptions in book one alone.
October 14, 2020
I have recently read Peter Crawleys’s Constant Tides, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and felt real empathy for the three main characters across the years.
A fascinating insight into various events in history with a great story interwoven, along with Peter’s usual marvellous descriptions.
Another great book from this author and probably my favourite to date!
A fascinating insight into various events in history with a great story interwoven, along with Peter’s usual marvellous descriptions.
Another great book from this author and probably my favourite to date!
October 5, 2020
Another page turner, this kept me up for quite a few nights and I finished it early this morning. Loved it and would higly recomend it to anyone needing a good read, well done Peter you did it again.
February 18, 2023
Historical fiction! I learned interesting details about earthquakes, WWII, and Sicilian culture. Very good page turner!
February 2, 2021
What a fascinating read! I received this as an ARC from Peter in exchange for an honest review. I’m so glad I did as it is definitely not a book I would usually pick up. The book is separated into two parts. My favourite was part one. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the events around the earthquake and the result of relationships off the back of this event. I’ve rated it 4*’s as I felt that it was very long! It’s as if it’s two different books added into one however this is good as it meant that I listened to part two straight away and didn’t forget the story. I enjoyed learning about Messina. Having been born in Malta, I could picture a similar setting, aided further by the way Peter describes the story so well. I thoroughly enjoyed this!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews